Happy New Year
by Usearki
Summary: Kaiba is bored at the KC end of year function, but a very drunken Jonouchi crashes the party. Who is to blame and what will happen next?


Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! This was written in a limited amount of time for fun.

* * *

Seto Kaiba scowled as he made his ~polite~ way around the room for what felt like the 100th time. It was Kaiba Corporation's Christmas function and there was no way he could leave early lest he cause some kind of offence to his business allies, but boy did it drag on.

He wandered over to the window and looked out upon the frosty landscape of Domino City, wondering how the 'friendship posse' were getting along. He supposed they were having a lot of fun, living it up and enjoying the holiday cheer whilst he was stuck here with all the fuddy-duddys who were so much older than him and were only interested in drinking the outrageously expensive wines and spirits, eating the hideously expensive food and sucking up to each other. It hadn't escaped his notice that the other CEO his own age, Ryuji Otogi, had not attended and he did not blame him in the slightest. He would not attend this function or some of the others he was forced to suffer through if he thought he could get away with it, but as he was the host it would be considered the height of rudeness if he were to try and leave early.

At least the older businessmen had stopped throwing their younger single female relatives at him after the debacle last year where he had gone up to each offender and quietly threatened to drive them out of business if they did not stop. Just because he was young and in charge of a multi-billion dollar corporation did not mean that he was pining for female companionship or engagements of any kind and especially the kind that would give a perceived advantage any of these leeches.

But what he wouldn't give to be out of here and doing his own thing. Despite what a lot of people might think, being the head of Kaiba Corporation was not all fun and games.

His attention was brought back into the room as there was a sudden silence followed by muted whispers and gasps. He struggled not to facepalm as one Katsuya Jonouchi swayed into the room, clearly very drunk. What the hell was he doing here and, more importantly, how in heaven's name had he got past the security.

He decided that he had best make a stand before some idiot got the idea to call the police. No matter what Jonouchi might think, he would not wish for him to spend the night in a police cell due to what was probably some idiotic prank or dare. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't that harsh.

He strode into the centre of the room, where a space had opened up around the clearly inebriated Jonouchi. "What do you think you are doing here?" he demanded.

"Oh *hic* hey Kaiba, I got something I wanna say to you." Jonouchi wobbled a bit and stepped towards him. "I..."

"And it was so important that you had to crash this function to do so?" Kaiba demanded, as he cut Jonouchi off and crossed his arms. He looked down at Jonouchi with clear annoyance on his features, even though he knew that would not work on Jonouchi, stubborn mutt that he was.

"I just really need to tell you that..." Jonouchi started, but once again he did not get to finish."

"Mr. Kaiba, would you like me to call security?" one of Kaiba's more sycophantic associates sidled up to him, clearly hoping to curry some favour. Kaiba rolled his eyes, but silently thanked the man as he had stopped what would probably have been some stupid rant about how horrible a person he was from Jonouchi. But Kaiba knew he had to move quickly as Jonouchi was giving the sycophant the stink-eye.

"Oi, I was speakin' here," Jonouchi spat. "Now as I was about to say, I..."

"No, it's fine, I can deal with him," Kaiba said stepping forward and grabbing Jonouchi's arm, cutting him off before he could say something potentially embarrassing. "I will be back shortly." he ignored Jonouchi's protests and marched the unsteady man out of the room before he could say anything that could possibly ruin his reputation or worse. He waited until they were definitely away from prying eyes and in a private room before he finally turned on Jonouchi.

"What the hell do you think you are doing here?" Kaiba demanded. "I never thought that you would be so stupid as to crash a function like this, drunk or not!"

"I just really need to tell ya something," Jonouchi said, lightly slurring, "while I still got the courage."

"Dutch courage is no courage," Kaiba snorted, wondering why he was even giving Jonouchi the time of day and not just marching him out. But then he knew that if he didn't hear Jonouchi out then he was likely to try something even more outrageous until he got his point across.

"Don't be like that, Kaiba, man..." Jonouchi said with a wounded expression.

"Never mind that," Kaiba snapped. "Tell me why you came here tonight so you can get out and leave me to go back to the... party." He could not help but give a little shudder as he really didn't want to be there. This disturbance, although it was unwelcome, was still a relief from that stuffy atmosphere.

"That bad, eh?" Jonouchi commiserated. "Hey, maybe I can liven things up for you!" He made to leave, so Kaiba quickly reached out and caught his arm.

"Don't be an imbecile," Kaiba spat. "Just tell me why you came here before I lose what little patience I have left and have you thrown out anyway."

"Ah, now that's the Kaiba I know and love," Jonouchi said with a dopey smile. "I just wanted to tell you that you're really hot and I think we could be really good together."

Kaiba stared at Jonouchi, stunned into silence.

"I just... wanted to tell you," Jonouchi said, deflating. He sighed. "This wasn't a good idea, was it?"

Kaiba looked down at him haughtily. "I will not answer right now," he said. "I will tell you exactly what I think of that sentiment when you are sober. I don't want to take the chance that you might forget what I have to say because of your your inebriation and try to do something stupid like this again." He stepped forward, noting that Jonouchi did not step back, although he did look a little confused. "Now I want you to go home and sleep this stupidity off."

He took Jonouchi's arm again and escorted him to the front of the building, using his free hand to grab his cellphone to call Isono to the front with the car. As they saw him approach, one of of the security ran towards him, intent on removing Jonouchi from Kaiba's custody.

"Mr. Kaiba! Let me deal with him for you."

"No," Kaiba said shortly, stopping the man as he reached out to apprehend the swaying Jonouchi. "I'm having him sent home. But what I do want is for you to find out how this drunken idiot managed to evade security and get to the function room. And I expect a full report on that failure on my desk first thing in the morning. Understood?"

The security man paled and nodded. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba." He backed off and let Kaiba escort Jonouchi to the front of the building. Jonouchi seemed kind of shell shocked and unable to parse exactly what was going on, so seeing as Jonouchi was in no state to make a proper decision, Kaiba made one for him.

"Isono, I would like you to take Mr. Jonouchi to the Kame Game shop."

"Very good sir," Isono said as he helped his employer get the drunken man into the back of the limousine.

"Don't throw up in my car, mutt," he muttered as he made sure that Jonouchi was securely seated.

"Hey Kaiba," Jonouchi slurred as Kaiba made to pull away, "I meant what I said."

"So did I, Jonouchi." Kaiba said firmly. "If you can remember what you did and said tonight after you sober up, come to me and I will tell you exactly what I think." he scowled, annoyed as usual. Let Jonouchi make of that what he would, but he was fairly certain that Jonouchi would come, no matter what he thought Kaiba might do or say. At least he would if he remembered.

Jonouchi quailed a little bit, his alcohol soaked brain perhaps catching up with the fact that he had just done something even more monumentally stupid than usual, but he didn't have time to say anything else as Kaiba pulled away and shut the door.

Kaiba watched as the car pulled away then pulled his phone out again. He pressed a speed dial and waited for the call to be answered by a sleepy sounding Yugi.

"The mutt is in my limousine on his way to you," Kaiba rapped down the phone, not giving Yugi time to answer. "He is completely drunk and thought it would be a good idea to gatecrash the Kaiba Corporation End of Year function. I don't care why he did it or if someone dared him to do it, but he had better not have been sick in my car." He hung up before Yugi could say a word and turned to walk back into the building, giving his security the evil eye as he went.

He returned to the function room to the expected stares and whispering, but he put his best poker face on and carried on. One man finally dared to sidle up to him.

"Mr. Kaiba, who was that drop out just now and how do you know him?"

Kaiba momentarily considered telling the man, Kotetsu something or other - not that it really mattered to him at this moment, to mind his own business. To be honest, anyone who was here and did business with Kaiba Corporation should have known full well who Jonouchi was as, despite all the odds, Jonouchi was one of the top duelists in the world, following only Yugi and himself. But then if he told this one person who Jonouchi was – and the couple of others who were shamelessly listening in – then the news would spread around the room and hopefully he would be left alone.

"He was someone I attended school with," Kaiba explained. "His little group of friends were always trying to get me to join in with them and I suppose one of them dared him to come here for some kind of drunken laugh. It's the kind of thing I would expect from them."

"Ah, I suppose they only want to know you because you are a wealthy young man," 'Kotetsu' pontificated.

"Actually, they don't," Kaiba mused. "They have always been very genuine but, unfortunately, annoying to me." With that he deliberately moved away and back to look out of the window. Now that the gossip was sweeping the room, everyone was happy to leave him alone. At least for now.

He looked out of the window, noting that it was beginning to snow. It was probably just as well that he had sent Jonouchi over to the Game Shop in one of his cars. It was bitterly cold outside and with the state that Jonouchi was in it wasn't beyond the realms of imagination that he could have passed out and frozen to death out there. If that were to happen it would be the worst thing imaginable. Yugi would probably give up dueling in his grief and so he would never take the title from him.

But if he were truly honest, he was completely blind-sided by Jonouchi's drunken confession. It really was most likely to be some kind of stupid dare fuelled by alcohol and bravado and if that were the case he would think of a way to make Jonouchi pay later on. But if it were the truth, he had a lot of thinking to do. At least he would once this bore-fest was over with anyway.

* * *

Jonouchi passed into consciousness the next morning to find his head absolutely pounding. He groaned and sat up, then opened his eyes to look around, finding himself somewhere he had not expected, that being Yugi's spare room. But how had he got here?

"Ah, you are awake," Yugi said as he came into the room, glass of water and painkillers in hand.

"Huh? Yugi?" Jonouchi's looked blearily at Yugi who thrust the water and painkillers at him.

"Take these," Yugi said shortly.

"Oh, thanks." Jonouchi took the proffered items and took the painkillers, washing them down with several gulps of the refreshingly cold water. He slowly drank the rest of the glass, knowing that he needed to take in every hydrating drop.

"So what were you doing last night, Jonouchi?" Yugi asked, an annoyed undertone clear in his voice.

"Huh, what?" Jonouchi blinked at Yugi. His thoughts hadn't caught up with him yet and he was clearly confused.

"I don't know what you did, but you were sent here in one of Kaiba's limos and you were so drunk that Isono had to help to get you into bed." Yugi looked at Jonouchi, clearly expecting an answer.

Jonouchi stared stupidly at Yugi for a few moments, then the light of remembrance came into his eyes. This was swiftly followed by a completely stricken expression. "Oh shit..." He looked so anguished that Yugi's expression softened and he sat on the bed next to Jonouchi.

"Is it that bad?"

"You have no idea," Jonouchi placed his face in his hands.

"It's not like you to get like this," Yugi observed. "Tell me what happened."

"I was over at Otogi's with Honda, mainly because Honda insisted that Otogi wasn't so bad and that I should give him a chance," Jonouchi said quietly. "I remember having a drink or two, but I decided to stop because I didn't want to get completely trashed." He sighed. "I should have known better than to take any more drinks from Otogi."

"He spiked your drinks?" Yugi was surprised.

"I'm not sure that he actually spiked them," Jonouchi mused. "He gave me something really good that didn't taste alcoholic at all, but it must have been. There is no way I should have ended up as drunk as I did otherwise. I know better than that!" Unspoken went the fact that he did not want to end up like his alcoholic father. To that end Jonouchi only ever had one or two drinks when he went out anywhere. He knew his limits and he stuck to them rigidly.

"Honda knows your stance on alcohol," Yugi mused. "Why didn't he step in?"

"I dunno, I'll have to find out later," Jou said, "but I suppose Otogi could have given him the same drinks he gave to me."

"So how does this translate to Isono bringing you here in one of Kaiba's limos?"

Jou flushed and hung his head. He rubbed a hand through his eternally messy hair in an attempt to soothe his aching head. "I'll be honest, the later part of the evening is a little bit of a blur, but I got the bright idea to go to Kaiba Corporation because Otogi told me that it was the evening for that hoity toity end of year thing that Kaiba has to host every year. He even gave me his invitation so that I could get in. But why would he do that?" He zoned out as he thought about it.

"OK, so what happened at Kaiba Corporation?" Yugi asked when it was clear that Jonouchi was not going to speak again without being prompted.

"Oh! I got into the function room and I said something to Kaiba, then he dragged me out into another room to find out what I was doing there." Jou sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair again. "It's probably just as well he made sure we were somewhere private. As it was I made a fucking fool of myself and now Kaiba's gonna kill me."

"What did you do, Jou?"

"I confessed to him," Jonouchi looked up at Yugi with stricken eyes. "I told him that I thought he was really hot and we could be good together. Then... I don't really remember much else."

"Do you remember if he said anything to you?" Yugi asked.

Jonouchi tried to think past the ache in his head. "I think he said something about telling me what he thought of what I said when I wasn't drunk to make sure that I wouldn't forget. He's gonna kill me, I know it."

Yugi had a contemplative expression on his face. "Maybe he won't. After all, he sent you here in a limousine to make sure you were safe and where you would be looked after. He could have just had you chucked out or let the police take care of you instead."

"He's just saving the bad stuff for when I'm sober and can remember," Jonouchi moaned, lying back down on the bed. "I'm gonna kill Otogi," he winced, "when I feel a bit better anyway. I'm sorry you got dumped with me, Yugi."

"No, it's fine," Yugi said. "I'll admit that I was a bit annoyed about it, but it's not your fault. Well, not completely your fault. You'll have to apologise to Grandpa as well. He wasn't too happy about being woken up either."

"Ah shit," Jonouchi covered his eyes. One of the last people he ever wanted to upset was the kindly old man. He had treated him really well – much better than his own family ever did. Old Grandpa Mutou didn't deserve to have to deal with his shit.

Yugi got up from the bed. "You sleep it off for now, Jonouchi. There will be time to deal with this later on."

"Thanks, Yugi," Jonouchi murmured as he turned onto his side. "I don't deserve a friend like you."

Yugi shook his head and left the room. It was typical of Jonouchi to end up in a scrape like this but he knew that Jonouchi would face his problems. To do otherwise would not be like Jonouchi at all.

* * *

It was a few hours later that Jonouchi felt as if he could finally get up. He was at the point where he knew that he wasn't going to feel any better unless he had more fluids and perhaps something to eat to soak up the rest of the alcohol in his system. He used the bathroom, then washed his face and made his way into the kitchen to find that Honda was there waiting for him.

"Oh God, Jonouchi, I'm so sorry," Honda started before he'd even managed to get all the way into the room. "This is all my fault."

"Wait what?" Jonouchi struggled to make sense. "What is your fault, Hon?"

"I may have let it slip to Otogi that you kinda like Kaiba," Honda admitted. "He promised that he wouldn't do anything with that information, but..."

"He plied me with so much alcohol I couldn't think straight, gave me his invitation and waited for the fireworks to fly," Jou sighed. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"I dunno. I ended up way drunker than I had any right to be, especially considering what I drank," Honda said. Jonouchi noticed that Honda did seem rather pale and surmised that Otogi had probably given Honda the same kind of drink that he'd had. "I woke up on the sofa a couple of hours ago and came straight here hoping that Yugi might have heard from you. When he told me what had happened..."

"Ah, dammit, Otogi has a lot to answer for," Jonouchi said with a sigh.

"So, what do you plan on doing now, Jonouchi?" Yugi asked as he entered the room.

"I dunno," he said. "I guess I'll have to apologise to Kaiba, if he'll let me, then... I'll probably get out of town for a while."

"What? Why?" Honda was aghast.

"Surely you don't need to go so far?" Yugi was shocked.

Jonouchi sighed. "It might not come to that but... maybe it would be for the best. Kaiba could make my life even more difficult than it is already and there's an old friend of the family who offered to take me in if I needed to get away from the gang. Fortunately I never needed to take her up on the offer, but I'm pretty sure it's an offer that's still standing if I need it."

"Just promise that you will talk to Kaiba before making some kind of rash decision," Yugi said.

"And make sure you explain Otogi's part in it," Sugoruko Mutou said as he entered the room. "What he did was totally irresponsible. You could have died out there last night."

"I'd have been OK," Jou said with bravado.

"Actually, I have to agree with Grandpa," Yugi said. "You were barely conscious when you came here last night. I already told you how Isono had to help get you to bed. If you had been outside in that kind of state you could easily have passed out and frozen to death."

"And if anyone can come up with a way to deal with Otogi, it's Kaiba," Honda said. "I never thought I'd say this, but I don't like the way he treated you, Jou. I thought Otogi was our friend, but now I'm starting to wonder..."

Jonouchi snorted. He had never really seen eye to eye with Otogi since the dog suit incident and then after the asshole had shamelessly chased after his sister. But he'd never, ever thought that Otogi could go this far. "OK, OK," he said, "I get the message. I'll talk to Kaiba and I promise to stay at least for new year, is that alright?"

"I guess that's all I can ask for," Yugi said. Honda nodded in agreement.

Jonouchi stood and bowed to Sugoruko. "I am very sorry for last night," he said.

"It's OK Jonouchi," Sugoruko said with a small smile. "I would rather be woken up than risk the alternative and we were all young once. Just try to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Thank you," Jonouchi said with some relief. He didn't think he could have lived with it if the old man had turned against him.

"Now, I take it that you boys are hungry?" Sugoruko asked. He held up his hand, "No, don't answer, I know you are. So let's get some food into you."

With that, everything was once again alright in the Mutou household.

* * *

The next couple of days were to be an exercise in futility for Jonouchi. He went to Kaiba's home, a very long walk, only to find that neither he or Mokuba were home or likely to be within the next few hours. So he walked back to Domino and went to Kaiba corporation only to be turned away. As he left the building he could see Kaiba's limousine disappearing into the distance so he gave that up as a bad job as he did not want to walk all the way out to Kaiba's house again only to find that he'd gone to bed by the time he got there. If Kaiba was woken from his sleep he was bound to be even more pissed off than usual, so that would really be a bad idea!

The next day he went directly to Kaiba corporation. He insisted to the receptionist that Kaiba would want to speak to him, only to be completely denied once again. Then he decided to try and sneak in instead, only to be caught by security, thrown out on his ass and told not to come back.

Finally he tried to call Kaiba, only to be rebuffed. He did not have Kaiba's personal cell number and neither did Yugi, so he resigned himself to giving up. Clearly Kaiba did not want to speak with him - and who was he to argue? So the plan was made, to Yugi's dismay, for Jonouchi to leave after the New Year's celebrations.

However, Yugi wasn't going to take this lying down, so it was fairly late on New Year's Eve that found him entering the lobby of Kaiba Corporation.

"I'm here to see Mr. Kaiba," Yugi said without preamble when he reached the front desk. He had to do it this way because he knew that security would throw him out unless he got clearance from the front desk to go in first.

The receptionist eyed him with a dismissive air. "Mr. Kaiba is a busy man. Unless you have an appointment?" She looked completely sceptical as she asked that.

"I don't have an appointment, but..."

"In that case you cannot see him," she said finally. "Have a good new year."

Yugi eyed her warily, feeling annoyed enough to take steps that he would never normally consider. Because he was hoping to prevent Jonouchi from leaving Domino, he would assert himself and use his status to get his way. He drew himself up as tall as he could, which wasn't very, and he gave her a hard look that would have made Yami proud.

"Do you recognise me at all?" he asked.

"No, should I?" She sounded a little less dismissive as she asked that so he went in for the kill.

"I am Yugi Mutou, the current reigning world champion of Duel Monsters. Kaiba will want to see me, I guarantee it." Yugi was completely certain of that.

"Really?" she eyed him with open scepticism now. "Do you have any idea how many people come here and try to get in by claiming..."

"Look it up," Yugi cut her off impatiently. "You have a computer there. I'm sure you can find something in the system that proves who I am."

The receptionist gave him a look then turned to her computer, clearly ready to kick him out on his ear when she found that he was lying, but she soon turned pale when she realised that he was, in fact, telling the truth.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Mutou. You have clearance to go up at any time."

"Thank you," he said simply, then he turned to make his way to Kaiba's office at the top of the building. He was sure that the receptionist would be getting a talking to from Kaiba afterwards as It was her job to recognise who was allowed in and who wasn't. He supposed it was possible that she was new, but there was still no excuse for the attitude.

He reached the top floor and walked straight from the lift and into Kaiba's office. There was no secretary as it was fairly late on and Yugi realised that he was probably lucky to catch Kaiba here so late, especially as it was New Year's Eve.

"And what brings you here to my office this late on New Year's Eve, Mutou," Kaiba asked the moment Yugi entered his office. "I'd have thought you'd be parting with your little posse of friends."

"Well our posse of friends got a little smaller after what Otogi pulled the other day and it's likely to get even smaller if you won't talk to Jonouchi."

If Kaiba was surprised he didn't show it. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. "Is the mutt running away with his tail between his legs? And why do you seem to think that I should be the one who talks to him? You know how things are between us."

"I know exactly what happened a few days ago," Yugi stated. Kaiba stared blankly at him so Yugi cut straight to the chase. "Otogi got Jonouchi drunk – and Honda too so that he couldn't interfere - then he gave Jonouchi his invitation to your function knowing full well that Jonouchi would not be able to resist going there and waited to see if there would be any fallout."

"Yes, I discovered that Otogi had given his invitation to Jonouchi when my security gave me their report after I demanded to know how he got in, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Yugi gave Kaiba a frank look. "I know exactly why Jonouchi was there and I know what he said to you. I can also tell you that he meant what he said, even though he was drunk."

"Really, I thought he'd forgotten all about it," Kaiba said, regarding Yugi coolly and not giving anything away. "He certainly hasn't taken me up on my offer to tell him what I thought when he sobered up and I think I'm actually more disappointed that he turned chicken instead of..."

"Actually, Jonouchi has tried to talk to you on several occasions," Yugi interjected.

"Has he really?" Kaiba asked, the scepticism dripping from his words.

Yugi speared Kaiba with a firm look. "OK, let me put it this way. When I arrived a few minutes ago your receptionist tried to deny me entry. Now I don't know if you have given Jonouchi clearance to come up here, but if you were expecting him to come I'd have thought that you would. But I suspect that he would have been thrown out whether he had clearance or not, especially if he ran into that receptionist.

"I also know that he went to your house and missed you – he walked there and back by the way – and he also tried to call you, but could not get anywhere. He's decided that this is your way of telling him that you don't want to speak to him, and he's decided to take a friend of his mother's up on her long standing offer of somewhere to stay if he needs it. She lives several hours away and I'm worried that he may end up staying there permanently."

"Oh." Kaiba seemed to be taken a little aback by that but he did not let it put him off his stride. "And what makes you think that I'm interested?"

"Well, there's the fact that you didn't rip him a new one in front of all of your business associates and also the fact that you sent him home in a limousine instead of letting him find his own way," Yugi pointed out. "You wouldn't do that unless you cared at least a little."

"I only did not eviscerate him in public because I did not know if he was going to say or do something that may cause trouble for Kaiba Corporation and I sent him to you in a limousine because even I wouldn't want to take the chance that he might pass out and freeze to death." Kaiba knew his reasoning sounded at least somewhat pathetic, but he wasn't about to admit anything to Yugi Mutou.

"Well, far be it from me to tell you what to do, but if you do speak to him could you at least let him down gently and please don't be cruel as he has enough on his plate at the moment. He's convinced that you are dreaming up something horrible to torment him with and that's at least part of the reason he's leaving."

Kaiba sighed. "I will consider whether I should go and speak to him, but if I do don't expect miracles. If he still decides to go, then that's that."

"Thank you Kaiba, that's all I can ask." Yugi didn't wait any longer and left Kaiba to his thoughts.

Kaiba sat and watched as Yugi walked out of his office, not looking back once. He had half expected that Yugi would cry or plead, but Yugi had simply stated his case and left it to Kaiba to make up his own mind.

So it all came down to one question. Did he care? OK, he did care, but did he care enough to go to the Game Shop and actually talk to Jonouchi about this? This could be a trick to get him to lower his defences, but he knew that most of the group weren't like that and the one that HAD been like that had caused enough trouble to cause his at least temporary excommunication from the group. He'd have to think up a suitable punishment for THAT idiot later.

He had thought quite a lot about Jonouchi's confession in the last couple of days. Drunken or not it had brought feelings that he had buried years ago to the fore. He had been convinced that Jonouchi was 100% straight, especially when he had been hanging all over Mai, and that had caused him to treat Jonouchi a lot worse than he otherwise would have done. He had eventually got that under control, realised that no matter what he did, Jonouchi was entitled to live his own life with whoever he chose and lashing out at him through what he could only consider was jealousy was not the best way to endear himself to anyone.

And now? Now that the possibility that Jonouchi actually did find him attractive was being dangled in front of him, did he dare to go and find out if it were true? Or should he hold on to the dream instead, even if it meant that Jonouchi would leave in the morning?

Well, he still had some time to make up his mind, but in the meantime he had something he needed to take care of. He pressed the intercom button which put him straight through to reception on the ground floor.

"Oh! Mr. Kaiba! Do you need something?" the receptionist asked, clearly a little shocked that her boss was calling her directly.

"Yes, I need you to make sure that you keep up with the list of who is allowed entry to see me at any time without question. Do I make myself completely clear?"

"Y-yes Mr. Kaiba. I'm sorry for turning Mr. Mutou away. It won't happen again."

"Mr. Mutou was not the only one that has been turned away in the last couple of days so you had better see that it does not." He turned off the intercom, knowing that he had put the fear of God into her and she would know that if she messed up again she would be sacked.

Seriously, he couldn't get the staff these days...

* * *

Several hours later, in fact it was just approaching midnight, found Jonouchi standing outside the front of the Game Shop. He didn't want to be inside right now as he was feeling quite miserable about the fact that he was going to leave in the morning and he was in danger of becoming an emotional wreck. This really wasn't like him, but after the week he'd had it was no surprise that he was having trouble holding on.

He took a couple of deep breaths in order to try and pull himself back together, then he was about to go back inside to join his friends in time for the countdown to New Year when a car pulled up outside. A very familiar car. Jonouchi turned and stared as Kaiba got out.

"Um... hey Kaiba," Jonouchi began uncertainly as Kaiba walked towards him. He felt a cold sweat start as Kaiba loomed over him. Damn him for being so tall - and so damned sexy.

"Jonouchi, I believe that you wished to speak with me?" Kaiba asked calmly.

"Um... well... I did, but... I wasn't so sure that you wanted to speak to me." he shook his head, wondering that Kaiba wasn't actually biting his head off. "But before anything else I'm sorry for crashing your party like that. I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, but Otogi gave me something that didn't taste alcoholic at all, even though it had a huge kick in the end. So then I ended up embarrassing both of us." He looked down and rubbed the back of his head, showing just how embarrassed he really was. "Sorry about that, Kaiba."

"I accept your apology and I also apologise for your failure in being able to contact me. That was due to an unforeseen problem in my reception." Kaiba paused. "I also hear that you walked all the way out to my home. That is quite a long way on foot."

Jonouchi grimaced and he knew exactly how Kaiba knew that little fact. "Yugi told you didn't he?"

"He may have mentioned it," Kaiba said offhandedly, "but he also mentioned that you are going to leave in the morning. I do hope that I am not the cause of this."

Jonouchi eyed Kaiba slightly warily. "Not entirely, no," Jonouchi said. "There are several problems in my life right now. Not that I think you are a problem! Dammit! I didn't mean that! But I need a break, to get away from Domino for a while. A friend of my mother's has offered me a place to stay so I'm taking her up on her offer for a few weeks, that's all."

"So you will be coming back then?" Kaiba pressed.

"I certainly intend to, but," Jonouchi looked up at Kaiba with confusion evident, "why does it matter to you?"

Kaiba blushed slightly and looked away. "If... when you come back, would you be interested in... getting together sometime?"

Jonouchi gasped slightly and then he smiled. Who knew that Kaiba of all people would get embarrassed about asking someone out. But then he supposed that even Kaiba must have a fear of rejection. "Sure thing," he said with a smile, "and you've just given me a great reason for making sure that I do come back."

Just then the bells began to chime on the run up to midnight. "You know it's supposed to be good luck to kiss as the new year comes in," Jonouchi said innocently.

"I... is it?" Kaiba looked kind of spooked, like he was about to run.

"Hey, don't sweat it, we don't have to, I was kinda kidding anyway and I'm not going to make you if you're not comfortable with... mmf!" As the clock finally struck midnight and the fireworks started exploding, Jonouchi was cut off by a pair of warm lips covering his own. The kiss lasted all of about ten seconds before a beet red Kaiba pulled away.

"Happy New Year, Jonouchi," Kaiba said as he made his retreat. "Have a safe journey and I'll see you when you get back."

Jonouchi let him go, knowing that they had made great strides in a very small amount of time. He really had not expected Kaiba to kiss him, and although he instantly wanted to kiss Kaiba again, he knew that it was way too soon to expect that to happen.

"Thanks Kaiba, Happy New Year to you too and I'll see you soon, OK?" Kaiba waved back then got into the limousine which pulled away as soon as the door was closed.

Jonouchi remained outside for a few more seconds, taking in a few more much needed gulps of refreshing air as he let what just happened sink in. Then he finally headed back inside the Game Shop.

"Oh! Jonouchi, you missed the new year!" Yugi greeted him in the hallway with a disappointed air.

"Ah, no, I didn't Yug'," Jonouchi replied with a grin, "but I think I need to talk to you about spilling the beans to someone like Kaiba..."

"Eeep!" Yugi squeaked, embarrassed at having been caught. But then something occurred to him. "Hang on, he came to see you?"

"Yep, and we talked a little. Now hang on a moment," he said as he noted the hopeful look on his friend's face, "I'm still going away in the morning. I've already made the arrangements and I'm not going to break them now. I do still need some time away," he sighed as Yugi's expression fell, "but I can guarantee that I will be coming back, and probably sooner rather than later, OK?"

"OK," Yugi replied, looking a little perkier now, "that's the best I can ask for. As long as you really are going to come back..."

"I just said I will, didn't I?" Jonouchi laughed. "I think Kaiba would probably come and hunt me down if I didn't!"

"So you two are going to make a go of it?"

"We're going to hang out a bit when I come back and we'll see where it goes," Jonouchi said. The short kiss outside was left unmentioned. That was private - at least for now.

"I'm happy for you Jonouchi, I really am," Yugi smiled, "now come back inside. You are missing the party!"

Jonouchi began to follow Yugi, then paused. There was something in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Jonouchi, my cell number," it read, the number following directly on from that sentence. "Do *not* let it get into the wrong hands!"

Jonouchi laughed. That was typical Kaiba. Maybe they did have a shot. It wouldn't be easy, far from it, but the promise of giving it a try was more than he'd had a few days ago and this year was already looking better than the last.

Maybe he should thank Otogi after all.

* * *

A/N - Last week I decided that I was going to write a story for New Year and this is what I came up with. I also decided that I was going to post it on New Year's Day no matter what and I posted it on my Dreamwith with less than five minutes to spare!

Happy New Year!


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